Persistent photoconductivity in n-type GaN

We report on the spectral and temperature dependence of persistent photoconductivity (PPC) in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition grown unintentionally doped n-type GaN. The PPC effect is detectable up to temperatures of at least 352 K, the highest temperature used in this study. At 77 K, the conduction persists at a level 80% higher than the equilibrium dark conduction for over 104 s after removing the excitation. We have determined the spectral dependence for the optical cross section for PPC and obtain an optical ionization energy of ∼2.7 eV. The temperature dependence of the photoconductivity decay and its nonexponential shape are explained by a distribution of capture barriers with a mean capture barrier of 0.2 eV and a width of ∼26 meV.